Fugitives
by oreocookiepup101
Summary: Isabella and her family Princess Rene, Prince Charlie, Count Jasper and Countess Rosalie flee Europe during WWII for the safety of America. They stay with the Cullen family who think of them as snobs. Will they surprise them? All human Please R
1. Chapter 1

Princess Isabella stepped off the airplane and attempted to shake the wrinkles out of her now crumpled traveling suit. Her cousins Count Jasper and Countess Rosalie Hale stepped out behind her. Isabella had fled her now communist country of Italy to the shelter of her cousins home in Austria. The war had most unfortunately spread to Austria and only the three teens and their younger siblings managed to make it out alive. She missed her parents, but was glad that they had thought to drag her younger sister Rene and older brother Charlie out behind them. Count Hale and been able to contact family friends in America, from England where they had managed to take temporary shelter with their aunt many times removed who was Queen of England.

Now they were here in America, but Isabella wasn't used to the informality that she was now treated with. Her family had owned many airplanes and boats and trains and automobiles, she simply wasn't used to riding with people of the working class. Rosalie and Jasper still treated her with the respect that she required, still her closest friends, but walking far enough behind her and her siblings as to show their rank. Isabella was nowhere near ready for the greeting that followed.

"You must be Isabella!" a grinning woman said enthusiastically as she _hugged_ her, "My name is Esme Cullen."

Rosalie, Jasper, Charlie and Rene looked properly appalled, a commoner hugging the Princess and forgetting her title.

"You forget madam that the Princess far outranks you and demands the respect that is required of her position!" Rosalie snidely told the woman as she tossed her golden hair behind her.

A large group had gathered behind Esme, consisting of a tall man whose blonde hair was starting to go gray, two younger men (one of whom was husky looking, the other taller with long reddish-gold wavy hair) and a young woman (very petite with a feathery hairstyle).

"I appologize to the Princess," Esme added almost sarcastically, "May I introduce to you my family. This is my husband Carlisle, my sons Emmett and Edward and my daughter Alice."

They all stood respectfully nodding at the Princess and her family. Isabella couldn't help but notice how bored the two young men looked and how excited their sister looked.

"Edward and Emmett can take your bags to the car," Carlisle told the group, "We know that our home is not what you have been accustomed to, but as your hosts we hope that it will at least be comfortable."

Edward and Emmett lifted the few bags and led the royals out to their automobile. The family had been forced to leave their belongings in Austria when they fled and everything that they had managed to grab fit into 2 trunks, their aunt had given them some clothes that fit into another. Isabella couldn't help noticing how Emmett kept glancing at Rosalie, who was a very attractive young woman. Before the war, Rosalie had been most unhappily engaged to a duke, whom they happily called Duke Chubby-Cheeks after his very large, very red cheeks.

**Edward POV**

The entire family of nobles stepped off the plane and Esme…er mom ran up to them and immediately hugged the very royal looking girl who led the procession. I saw her stiffen and a disgusted look crept onto her face, making her seem haughty and stuck-up. I really disliked the girl. She could be pretty, I added without even meaning to, if she pulled her long brown hair down from the severe bun that sat at the nape of her neck. Her pale skin and brown eyes would look pretty if she wasn't so prim and maybe a bit more laid back.

My brother Emmett's breath caught as the blonde girl tossed her hair and spoke with a rude look on her face to my mother. I couldn't see how Emmett could think that snooty girl pretty. The rest of our family approached and I noticed how stuck-up they all looked. If they weren't homeless and orphans I'd beg Carlisle to send them home. Emmett and I nodded our introductions and lifted their few bags to take to our car. Carlisle, my father, was a doctor at the hospital in the small town of Forks, Washington where we all lived. He could have had a better paying job at some bigger hospitals, but he chose to stay in Forks where he had been born and because he really liked the genuine people in the town. Dad made a pretty decent salary, we lived in a relatively large home with nice things and we were making it through the Depression pretty well. I also knew that our home had nothing on the castle that _Princess _Isabella and her family were accustomed to. It didn't matter to me what they thought, I hated the Princess and her snobby family!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chap 2:**

**Bella's POV**

I could not believe the _nerve_ these Americans had. To _touch_ nobility, to leave out my title, to treat us equals…was unacceptable! And Carlisle, how foolish he was to think that any of their _American_ standards could live up to those that my family had before the war.

We got into their car, that was a bit too old and too small compared to what we had had, but then I noticed the other 2 cars parked beside it.

"Maybe they aren't as common as we though!" I whispered to Rosalie.

"Bella!" she gasped, shocked at my thought. We had done away with the formalities that they had previously used during our time on the run.

"Well they do have 3 automobiles," I defended.

"But their Fords!" Rosalie hissed back, "Do you see a single bloody Rolls Royce?"

I sighed knowing full well that Rose's snooty mind would find them lacking in everything no matter what. But I didn't like them that well either, for that matter. When Esme had hugged me, she stepped over some clearly laid boundaries that I did not want crossed again. During the take over in Italy, I went from the top to nearly a prisoner, not something that I wanted to repeat ever again.

The Cullen boys too were very rude. Barely saying a word and _throwing_ our few precious belongings into the trunk of the car in a way that if we had been able to save anything fragile (which we most unfortunately could not) it all would have broke. I also noticed the big one…Emmett, I think…staring openly at Rose! She is a very pretty young woman, which I have often lamented myself, but his staring was simply rude and out of line. The girl seemed nice enough, perhaps too excited for my liking, but she might make an adequate acquaintance if she would hang over my every word and fawn over me as all my friends did in Italy.

The drive was relatively short, and the house lovely. The house was large (for an American home), built in the Victorian style just modernized a bit. It was very open and airy, the white paint and the wrap around porch made it look very quaint. The house seemed to come out of the fairy tales my governess read to me as a child. I was shocked however at the lack of help the family had. Esme informed us that due to the tightness of money they only had a handy man and housekeeper who came very irregularly. Everyone in the family was expected to help out, us included.

"Maybe they can start by carrying their own tunks in!" Emmett suggested.

I gasped at the thought, "A princess never carries her own things."

"Look around, Princess," the other Cullen, Edward was it, hissed in my ear causing me to shudder with rage, "Your not in Italy anymore and you don't have your crown!"

I shoved by him, but still refused to take a trunk.

Rosalie walked up beside me. "We must be polite," she whispered, "No matter how preposterous it may be, they are giving us a home until we may return to our courts."

She was right, of course, leave it to level-headed Rosalie to give you a reason to do something. I grabbed a trunk and stormed into the house.

**Edward's POV:**

Just to see the look on Isabella's prissy face made the entire argument worth it. The girl had to realize that they were guests here and while they were royalty, they needed to help around the house just like the rest of us. I could see her brother, Charlie I was almost positive, eying me with hatred. Emmett and I would soon have the Prince and Count in line. The thought made me chuckle.

But I could actually see Isabella laughing in the kitchen with my mom as they made supper. I could see her brother and cousin stacking wood with us and cutting the grass with Jacob, the handy man. I could see all of us sitting around the fire in the living room, joking and laughing with a radio show playing the background. I cleared the thoughts from my head. To think I even considered the snobs working along beside us as equals! It was ridiculous!

I told Emmett about it and his teasing eyes became thoughtful, "You know we could make a bet," he told me.

"Why would they even think to agree though?" I asked him, thinking of Isabella with her nose in the air.

"Have you noticed how stubborn and competitive they are?" he asked in response, "We just need to put it in terms they won't or can't refuse."

"Like how?" I asked, still not sold.

"Play their pride. The Princess and the Countess sure are proud. We give their pride a tweak and they'll be all ours!"

I laughed along with Emmett, a bet could be fun. And maybe it could be our way of taking them down off their high horses, as Esme told us. It could just be the joke that would get us through the war. Emmett and I didn't qualify for the draft because we were in medical school, studying to be doctors. When we graduated, we would work under Carlisle and help civilians. The government let us be because so many young men were off to war, along with most of the doctors! This just might help us to have a bit of fun when we weren't in school…


	3. Chapter 3

**Chap 3:**

**Bella's POV**

Rene and I were putting our few belongings away in the room we were to share when there was a tap on our door.

"Come in!" I called, still miffed that we were _putting our belongings away with no servants!_

The Cullen girl danced in, "Is there anything I can get for you? We're going to be great friends, I can feel it!" She was bubbling over with energy.

Rene looked down at her, Rene was 15 and all ready taller than the girl who Rose said was around our age (20).

"Oh, Rene, we registered you at the local high school. Daddy will take you when he goes to work!" the girl was so animated…and friendly, "I'm Alice by the way!" She called over her shoulder as she danced out of the room.

I think I was starting to like Alice. She was so genuine. Everything that she said or did seemed to be from her heart…not many people in Italy were like that to us-me in particular. Who would be honest with their future ruler, though. I liked her genuine spirit and looked forward to becoming friends, even equals. Her brothers on the other hand…

**Edward's POV**

As the Princess and her entourage were unpacking Emmett and I decided to lay out our plan.

"We need to find something to make her mad enough to agree to our plan," I told Emmett lazily as we settled onto the porch steps.

"Some cracks at her crown might work," Emmett suggested.

"No, I don't think that would work," I told him, "She's proud of it, sure, but it won't break her."

"Right," Emmett said, deep in thought.

"I got it!" I nearly shouted.

"What?" Emmett asked, glancing around to make sure no one had heard me.

"We tell them how useless they are, how they have no future…" I told him.

"Your right, they really don't. The only thing they could do is marry someone," Emmett said this almost regretfully.

"So then we challenge them, see if they can't _make_ themselves useful," I told him.

"Who do we challenge though?" Emmett asked, "There are a lot of them." "Who do you think," I mocked him, "The_ Princess_ is their leader…we go to her!"

Emmett and I clambered off the steps and whispered to each other as we walked up the stairs to one of the guest bedrooms. I knocked on the door.

"Alice!" I heard the Princess call, "You can come in, we're almost done anyway."

Emmett opened the door and I could hear her gasp and jump in shock.

"We're not Alice, _your highness_," I told her sarcastically, finding her surprise very amusing.

She of course glowered at us before she tightly asked, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"We," Emmett began, pointing to each of us, "were just thinking about how difficult you all were going to find America, being completely hopeless in doing anything for yourselves…"

"We can do plenty for ourselves!" the Princess snapped.

"Yes, you can," I jumped in, "but nothing useful for when your not living under our protection. I'd even venture to guess that if it wasn't for us, you wouldn't be able to take care of yourselves!"

"We-we," Isabella blubbered, trying to find a truthful retort.

"See!" Emmett laughed his booming laugh, "You all are too pampered to do anything in this world, guess we'll be stuck with you all until you marry off!"

Isabella glared at him, but I could see tears forming in her eyes.

"We just wanted to make a bet with you," I said a bit more gently, "We wanted to bet you that you nobles can't work hard and won't be able to stand a week of hard work."

"That's it?" Isabella asked, her eyes hardening at the challenge, "We have to work just as hard as you for a week and if we win…?" She left the end hanging.

"If you win, we'll reconsider our first impression and take back all the insults…if you lose, you will have to do our least liked chores for the rest of your stay, no complaints!"

"Easy," Isabella told us, her face eager now for the challenge, "The rules?"

"Simple, you ask Alice or Esme for around 3 chores a day. You get them done that day and keep it up for a week…you win," I told her, no longer sympathetic.

"Fine, we'll beat you easily!" she told us in a huff and practically threw us out the door.

Emmett slapped my hand as we walked out the door.

"Now all we have to do is tell Alice," I told him, getting a groan.

"Will she go for it?" he asked.

"Who knows!" I chuckled, "She's Alice."

**Bella's POV**

Gosh! I couldn't believe the insolence of those two boys! First insulting us, saying how we couldn't work just as hard as them! We'd show 'em! I knew that Rosalie was always up for a competition…and seeing how much she disliked the Cullens, getting her to compete hard was going to be simple.

To think that I had thought that Alice girl sweet! She was probably in the hall laughing with her worthless brothers. We'd show her too.

The silly Cullens didn't realize that though they were used to harder work, we nobles had a will. We were born to conquer anything and everything thrown in our path. From the trees we climbed (and I fell out of) when we were children, to the wars we were sure to fight in our future, we never gave up.

I laughed to myself remembering the day when Charlie first showed me how to climb a tree. He had held my up, so that I could grab the branches to go up.

"Your first and last bit of help," he had told me, very seriously, as he climbed up behind me.

I'm not very great with balance, my parents called me clumsy. So of course it was fated that I fell out of the tree, and took Charlie down with me. I fell on him so he had all the bruises, but we both got back up. We were even more determined to climb the tree. After several tries I finally made it to the top of the tree. The view was incredible. To my five year old eyes, it seemed that the entire world could be seen from that spot. The bruises that had accumulated all over my body no longer mattered, I had done it. I had climbed the tree. Sure, I was scratched and bruised, but I had climbed a tree.

Of course, I'm clumsy so I was fated to fall from the top of that tree and break my arm…more painful to my mother than me because I was still there, up in that tree looking at my country.

This "bet" as Edward called it, was just another tree in my life for me to climb and the bruises a long the way wouldn't stop me, or any of us. It was in our blood, this stubborn, conquering nature.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chap 4:**

**Edward's POV**

Emmett and I nearly ran to Alice's bedroom, we were so eager to get her in on our scheme.

"So Alice," Emmett began, "What do you think about putting those snobs in line?"

Alice looked at him, obviously shocked, "Why would I want to do that?"

"Come on, Alice!" Emmett pleaded, "You couldn't have missed how nasty they are?"

Alice looked at him and laughed, "I don't know how _nasty_ they are, I think it's more that they're afraid and cover their fear with snobby attitudes."

"But you wouldn't be opposed to putting them in their places, would you?" I asked her.

"What did you both do?" Alice asked, looking at us with her "angry face".

"Well, we sort of bet them that they wouldn't last a week doing as many chores as we could," Emmett said, actually looking very sheepish as his tiny sister scolded him.

"That I can live with!" she laughed and danced around the room, "This will be fun, we'll show them the pride you feel in a good days work and then we can all be friends!" She sighed, and danced faster as she laughed and clapped her hands.

"Yeah, well you're in charge of giving them their daily chores. They need to complete 3. And no easy ones! They do as much as you or Mom do in a day," I told Alice.

She laughed again, "I like it, but Edward; Mom and I do way more than 3 chores a day! If it wasn't for Sue we'd be working all night!"

I nodded, "But they'd never agree if they had to do exactly as much as you do, we had to get them to agree."

Alice nodded and laughed, "This is going to be fun!"

**Bella's POV**

I ran to Rosalie's room that she got to have all to herself. The Cullens had 3 guest bedrooms, not nearly as many as I had but more than I had expected. Rene had gotten Charlie and Jasper from down the hall to meet in Rosalie's room with us. Rosalie sat at the vanity in the room, brushing her golden hair with a silver hair brush that she had managed to save.

"Rose?" I asked questioningly, "We need to talk."

Rene walked in with Charlie and Jasper as Rosalie turned around.

"This must be serious," she told us, "I thought Bella was just going to tell me that the big brute was in love with me…Bella?" "Alright, Rene and I made a bet with the brute and his brother," I smiled at the appropriate titles, "We need to be helpful, more specifically do 3 chores a day for a week…whatever they tell us to do."

Jasper and Charlie looked horrified, Rose looked apprehensive.

"What did you bet?" she asked, she was well aware of the gambling problems that our families had.

"No money, when we win they'll take back all their insults and be nicer to us, but if we lose (highly unlikely!) we will have to do their chores, well only their hated ones, for the rest of our stay," I told them all.

That of course did nothing to the fears of Jasper and Charlie, they knew they would have the hardest work, Edward and Emmett's chores to do.

"Alice is in on it, but we need to keep it from Esme," Rene told them all.

Rosalie smiled, "I think this will be fun!"

**The Next Day, still Bella's POV**

I woke up in my little room at the Cullens' to Rene's soft snoring. I giggled, it always reminded me of the times when we were little girls when we would stuff socks into Charlie's snoring mouth nearly every night. I hurried and dressed in a rather pretty, but slightly faded skirt (a lovely cream color) and a matching blouse. I pulled on my loafers and tied my hair back with a navy ribbon. After shaking Rene awake, I ran downstairs to the large and open kitchen where Esme and Alice were cooking breakfast.

"What can I do to help?" I asked cheerily.

"You could make some eggs, Isabella," Esme told me with a smile.

Alice nodded to me, so I pulled the basket of eggs out of their icebox and searched for a pan. I had never made eggs before, or anything else for that matter, but it looked rather simple. I cracked the eggs in a large bowl, but noticed the many shells floating in with them.

I heard a laugh coming from behind me, I spun around to look into Edward Cullen's incredible green eyes.

"What's so amusing?" I demanded, trying to shake off the flustered feelings looking at him had left me with.

"Watching you cook!" he laughed again, "You honestly have never cooked before?" He sounded shocked at the idea.

"When you have a full kitchen staff to do it and many other pressing duties on hand, there was no need for me to ever do this kind of a thing!" I told him, "There was so much else to do."

"Like what?" he asked as he began picking the shell fragments out of the mixing bowl.

"Like learning foreign policies, languages, studying politics, helping to manage the entire staff of our 3 palaces, keeping all the visiting dignitaries straight, national events…need I go on?" I told him, pleased to see the look of surprise that he unsuccessfully tried to hide from me. I couldn't help but laugh, "See royalty has to work just as hard as the other classes to keep everyone happy. We're the ones who help negotiate wars and keep the piece, we're important to society!" Edward looked a little sheepish from my scolding, "I'm sorry Isabella, I never realized how _hard_ you worked!" He even made his apology sound sarcastic, that boy was incorrigible.

I grabbed the bowl from him and poured the eggs onto the pan that Alice had heated and greased for me. I stirred them around, trying to figure out when they were cooked. They ended up incredibly burnt, but Esme made everyone eat them without making too many faces. I groaned to myself, dreading the chores they would dredge up for me to do for the rest of the day.

"Mama, can we go work in the garden?" Alice pleaded, I smiled to myself knowing that I had a "green thumb" as my mother called it. I used to work with the gardeners all the time, helping in all of our exotic gardens.

Alice led us all out to the back of their house where there was a vegetable garden (called their Victory Garden) and flower beds. I took a trowel and watering can from the shelf of the shed and scooped up some seeds. I was the first to make it to the flower beds where I happily watered the flowers, loving the smell of them and the feel of the sun on my skin. I had forgotten a hat, but I could care less if my nose freckled. It had been so long since I had been able to simply enjoy myself and engage in one of my favorite hobbies. This bet was going to be easier than I thought, or so I thought then.

Alice of course had to break my happy mood by saying, "This doesn't count as a chore, it's more a break for us all. The vegetable garden will count when we start harvesting some things and hoeing it out, but for now it's all for fun!" I was still happy to be working in the flower beds, but vegetable gardening, I was never going to do that! Rosalie looked a little appalled at getting her precious hands dirty, even for fun. She cherished her creamy white, extremely soft and plump hands a bit more than was simply vanity. I guess we'd all have to make some sacrifices here in America.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chap 5:**

**Bella's POV**

I was exhausted from the long day of working beside Esme and Alice. And yet somehow I couldn't fall asleep. Wrapping a shawl around my shoulders, I padded barefoot down the carpeted staircase to the front porch. My nightgown and hair blew about in the breeze as I leaned against the railing. 

After we had spent some time in the gardens, Alice took us inside to help Esme make dinner, or as they called it in America-lunch. Esme had showed me how to chop vegetables for a salad and had thrown together some sandwiches using peanut butter and jelly. In all, it was delicious. Alice had then led us to the parlor where we dusted, mopped and swept until the entire room was clean. Rene and Rosalie had been told to go polish the silver in the kitchen with Esme while Alice and I shucked corn for supper. Esme had also instructed us on how to make stew, throwing in bits of vegetables that remained from the luncheon and adding some more. We also baked bread which was very difficult. The results though were superb. I saw some sense in idea of feeling pride in a good day of hard work.

I didn't even hear the footsteps, but I felt a warm hand on my shoulder even through the thick wool of my shawl. I whirled around.

"Couldn't sleep?" Edward Cullen asked.

"I don't know why, I've never been this exhausted!" I told him, turning back around. 

"Did you honestly do all that work when you were in Italy?" he asked.

"Si!" I added, "And more!" I laughed, "Did you truly think that all we did was sit around and order our servants?"

Edward looked away, it was most unfortunately too dark to see him blush, "Yes."

He looked away.

"Since we're confiding in each other, I'll tell you one of my biggest secrets," I turned away, "I _hated_ it!"

He looked at me, his eyes perplexed, "Why did you hate it?"

"Everything was so formal, and often so pointless. Charlie was crown prince so I never had to worry about ruling, but all the stuff that I was forced to know was ridiculous!" I laughed, "I had to know all this pointless information on the dignitaries that visited and I had to organize all of the social functions for my father. My mother died a few years back so I was all but the Queen of Italy."

He still looked perplexed, "But that doesn't sound so bad!"

"It wasn't. It was just all of that got in the way of my hobbies. I didn't have time to go riding, or even to work in my gardens. Another problem was my family was never close, I never truly knew what we were missing until I came here…the way your family loves each other…" I wiped a few tears from my eyes.

"Hey," he whispered gently, "Let's go to the kitchen, I'll make us some chocolate."

I nodded and followed him through the darkened house.

"I made such a fool of myself today," I told him as we entered the kitchen.

"Actually you did much better than we expected!" Edward laughed, "But those eggs were…interesting!" I smacked him playfully, but suddenly had an idea, "Would you help me…teach me to cook?"

He looked at me like I was insane, "Me? I'm not sure…"

"We could meet at night and you could just show me a few things, so that I don't embarrass myself again…" I trailed off realizing that even with my high rank (which probably was a lot lower than I had once thought) this man was not interested in helping me, in fact it seemed as if he despised me.

"Well, I guess I could help you a little…" he didn't sound to eager.

Swallowing the lump in my throat I turned to him and said, "I don't need your pity, I'll learn as I go." I stalked out of the kitchen and began running up the stair to the room I was sharing with Rene.

"Isabella, wait!" Edward called, "I don't pity you…" he was panting, "I'll see you tomorrow night at 10 o'clock, but this is our secret! Don't tell anyone!"

I turned and nodded, "Thanks," I whispered so softly I doubted he even heard me.

**Edward's POV:**

I had had a difficult day in medical school that day and I knew that I should be either sleeping or studying, but for some odd reason I couldn't do either. I decided to go outside for some fresh air and then come back in to finish some work that we had been assigned today.

I began walking to the front porch which was my favorite place in the entire house to be. It appeared that someone was out there too because the door was opened. I stepped out quietly and saw the Princess. I involuntarily noticed how beautiful she looked. She stood against the porch rail clutching a woolen shawl around her shoulders, with her back to me. Her perfectly white nightgown billowed about her, showing her bare ankles and her beautiful figure. Her thick brown hair flew behind her. She was the most _beautiful_ person I had ever seen. I had to stop thinking like that, she was a stuck up brat who would leave us in the end to marry some wealthy man or regain her throne with her brother. 

I walked up to her and put my hand on her shoulder. She turned around so that we were facing each other.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked, more pointing out an obvious fact than asking a question.

"I don't know why, I've never been this exhausted!" she told me before turning away from me once again.

For some reason I thought back on our conversation that morning, "Did you honestly do all that work in Italy?" I asked her.

"Si," she spoke in Italian and I could tell she missed it, "And more! Did you really think that all we did was sit around and order our servants?" she laughed as she said it.

I blushed, glad she couldn't see and turned away, "Yes."

"Since we're confiding in each other I'll tell you one of my biggest secrets," she turned back away from me, "I _hated_ it."

"Why did you hate it?" I asked, still confused.

"Everything was so formal, and often so pointless. Charlie was crown prince so I never had to worry about ruling, but all the stuff that I was forced to know was ridiculous!" she laughed, "I had to know all this pointless information on the dignitaries that visited and I had to organize all of the social functions for my father. My mother died a few years back so I was all but the Queen of Italy."

I was confused, "But that doesn't sound so bad!" I thought of all the horrible things I had been forced to do by my parents, running a kingdom sounded nice compared to cutting the lawn or all of my mother's bushes.

"It wasn't. It was just all of that got in the way of my hobbies. I didn't have time to go riding, or even to work in my gardens. Another problem was my family was never close, I never truly knew what we were missing until I came here…the way your family loves each other…" she broke off.

I noticed then that she was trying to wipe tears away before I noticed, "Hey," I told her gently, "Let's go to the kitchen, I'll make us some hot chocolate."

She nodded and I led the way into the house.

"I made such a fool of myself today," she grumbled as we walked into the kitchen.

"Actually you did much better than we expected!" I laughed, thinking of how horribly Emmett and I had assumed they would be today and how wrong we were, "But those eggs were…interesting!"

She playfully hit me, but broke the good mood by asking, "Would you help me…teach me to cook?"

I was sure she was going mad, asking me to help her! I didn't think it was such a good idea since I was beginning to have feelings for her, "Me? I'm not sure…"

She cut me off adding, ""We could meet at night and you could just show me a few things, so that I don't embarrass myself again…" She faded off at the end and her faced crumpled.

"Well, I guess I could help you a little…" I decided I could at least try to be friendly to her, but my face must have shown how little I wanted to do it.

She swallowed hard, ""I don't need your pity, I'll learn as I go." With that she turned and began to run from the room.

It took me a minute to realize what had happened and to follow her.

"Isabella, wait!" I called out to her, "I don't pity you…" I was panting form trying to run and talk, "I'll see you tomorrow night at 10 o'clock, but this is our secret! Don't tell anyone!"

She turned to look at me. I began walking back down the hall and I could just barely hear her whisper, "Thanks," before she ran up the staircase.

"Dang it!" I muttered to myself, I had just agreed to spend quite a bit of time with the Queen of the Snobs.


	6. Chapter 6

**Didn't I tell you that it would work?? ****J Thank you to all the people who reviewed…and because of you I plan on continuing this story (at least for now)!!!!**

**Chapter 6:**

**Bella's POV:**

The next day, I woke up early (it seemed I didn't need much sleep lately) and I settled onto the front porch in one of the quaint little rocking chairs that sat on it and began to read. I had found a darling little paperback novel in the dresser of the room that was now mine. It had been so long since I had had the luxury of reading and I wanted to enjoy it.

I had decided to wear one of the simple skirt and blouse outfits that Esme had given to me and I felt incredibly comfortable in it.

"You look very American," a little voice chirped, "Sitting on the porch all curled up and reading!" She laughed, a sweet tinkling sound that reminded me of the bells that adorned Charlie's baby rattle, "I'm Alice, I'm sure you didn't remember that."

I looked up, startled by Alice and unsure how to react. I genuinely liked the girl, but after all her brothers had put my family through I wasn't sure how to react.

"I remember," I said at last, purposely ignoring the American comment.

"I know that you dislike me, Isabella," Alice stated, purposely ignoring my title. "But you have to realize that this bet is so simple! And it would serve my brothers and you all right to learn a little bit. Besides, I have a feeling that it will bring us closer together."

I highly doubted that, but I remembered my father's words. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," he always told us, before dining with a dignitary from a rival country.

"You are quite right, Miss Alice," I said, smiling at the title I had given her.

"It's just Alice," she told me, smiling as she pulled us to our feet. "And we have a parlor to clean."

Alice, Rosalie, Rene and I spent the rest of the day busily cleaning and cooking. The hard work was surprisingly rewarding, it was something that I had missed out on due to my princess duties.

All too soon, it was nearly 10 o'clock. I had put my nightgown on over my skirt, so that I was entirely dressed by the time that I needed to go downstairs. Edward was waiting for me in the kitchen. He nodded at me and motioned to the eggs that sat on the counter and the bowl beside it.

"Watch the way I crack this," he told me, and proceeded to crack an egg perfectly into the bowl.

I nodded and took an egg in my own hand, cracking it nearly as well. He smiled triumphantly and began to grease a smaller pan.

"Wait for the pan to start to sizzle a bit and then pour the eggs in," he told me. "And just wait for them to become solid before adding some cheese."

I nodded and began to concentrate on the pan, soon adding the raw eggs to the hot pan. I stared intently at the pan, convinced that the eggs would be done shortly.

"It'll take a minute," Edward whispered behind me.

Again, I nodded mutely. I was afraid to say anything that might ruin the moment that we had so carefully created.

"You can say something, Isabella," he said at long last.

"Why do you hate me?" I asked him the first question that popped into my mind.

"Well, I don't _hate_ you, I just dislike you," he said reluctantly.

"Yes, but why?"

"Because you are so entitled, you think that life comes easily to you just because of some silly title that you were _born _with. I am so glad there is no royalty in America."

"Edward, I am entitled because I had a lucky birth, I was born into a well-off family that happened to be titled. But don't you _dare _tell me that there is no royalty in America. They may not have titles, but the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers most certainly are American royalty. As Shakespeare phrased it, 'what's in a name?'. In Russia royalty is referred to as tsars, in Europe we are called kings, in Asia emperors and in America they are misters. No matter what they are called they are still royalty."

Edward looked at me, shocked. "I never thought of it that way," he said, at last.

"Sometimes it takes another person to give you a different view of a situation," I said to him, turning to the pan and adding a slice of cheese to the eggs. "There! I made a perfect batch of eggs!"

Edward smiled at me and took two plates out from the cupboard. He divided the serving in half and took the plates to the table, along with two glasses of milk and the cookie jar. "A perfect snack!" he joked.

The two of us settled down at the table, feeling content in one another's company. It felt so _right_ to be with him and I never wanted it to end. At night he was so open, willing to listen to my opinions and respond with his own thoughts. In those few, stolen moments I was not a Princess who would someday become Queen of another country. Instead, I was Isabella, just another girl talking to just another American boy. If I closed my eyes really tightly I could see a future for us, filled with moments like these, but I knew that it would be impossible. I had a commitment not just to my family, but to my country to marry well and bring prosperity to Italy.

I was a Princess and we had no room in our hearts and minds for love or anything like it. A friendship kept with the Cullen family would be hard enough and I knew from experience it was better not to get attached. And that was what I would try to do.

Too bad it was easier said then done.

**Edward's POV**

Oh G-d! I was falling in love with this stubborn, willful, passionate woman who could get on my nerves so quickly it was hard to realize my feelings. How could I let myself fall for such a cold unfeeling person? And I knew right then that I had begun to fall for this girl the moment she began to open parts of her inner-most self to me. But it could never be. Soon, the girl would return to her country and her snobbery would return along with her. And someday I would read in a newspaper how Princess Isabella of Italy married a King of some other nation.

And when I did, I vowed to myself that I would feel nothing.

Too bad it was easier said then done.

**Ok I'm back and in full swing! At last! YAY! And I promise that at the moment I have no plans of giving up this story! So thank you to everyone who convinced me to keep going. Please read and review…I would really appreciate it!**


	7. A Note

_Hi everyone! I am very sorry, but I am no longer going to be writing this story. Thank you to all of my readers, alerters and reviewers! I might go back to this story one day, but for now I'm going to discontinue it. If you would like to keep reading my writing (please do! Haha) check out my other stories, What Happens in English, A New Witch in Town_ and _Soulmate_!


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